Promises
by Black-Kat Jinx
Summary: After Mikey's latest prank, Raphael seeks some help from one of the culprits responsible. (Companion piece to Temperature. ABC Challenge) (2012 Verse)


**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! (Or anything related to them)

**Author's Notes:** Not exactly a continuation, since Temperature can stand on its own without this and vise versa. This is more of a companion piece / side story. Some fun Raph and April interactions!

* * *

April sat on the edge of the table with her legs swinging back and forth slowly, the toes of her slippers barely brushing the tiled floor with each pass.

She should have asked Mikey what he planned on doing with that dye he wanted her to buy for him. Knowing his love for pranks, it would have been the smart thing to do. At the time, however, she didn't really _want_ to know. A matter of self-preservation so to speak.

Still, if she _had _asked then at least she would have been more prepared to find a grumpy Raphael, at one in the morning, sitting on her balcony and sporting his latest fashion disaster. The memory brought a brief smile to her lips. At the time she had laughed, more out of surprise than anything. Thankfully, Raph had taken it with grace... or as much grace as a glare and deep grunt would allow.

In retrospect, the red-head was glad that she had the foresight to make sure the dye could be washed out.

Knowing she couldn't send the turtle back home since he came all this way, and since it was partly her fault anyways, April had agreed to help him.

Which brought them to now.

Leaning back on her hands she watched as the turtle paced the length of the laundry room, green eyes downcast as he all but stomped back and forth, arms waving occasionally as he explained what happened although it sounded more like a rant at this point.

"Can you believe it? He dyed them Pink! PINK! How he managed to turn red into that bright of a color, I have no idea. But he did."

"It is a Mikey mystery." April agreed. She wasn't going to tell him that she had bought Mikey at least three or four bottles of the stuff.

"Yeah. Yeah. And where did he get the glitter?! It looks as if he almost dumped a whole bag of the stuff all over them!"

Now that was a good question. Michelangelo had not asked for glitter when he requested the dye. She wouldn't be surprised if he had a stash hidden away with the rest of his prank arsenal though. At least they had been able to get most of the offending sparkles off before throwing the masks into the washer where, hopefully, the rest would be removed.

Raph suddenly stopped pacing, his shoulders dipping slightly and snorted softly through his nose. He then crouched down in front of the machine, folding his arms across his knee pads and watched the soapy water slosh against the glass pane.

April couldn't see his face from her spot behind him but the reflection told all. While Raphael had a penchant for always looking grumpy or irritated, the red head was happy to note that the lines around his mouth had smoothed as if the ranting had eased the tension somehow.

The silence drifted on for several seconds as she studied him, accompanied only by the soft hum of the washer.

Her swinging legs slowed to a stop and she sat up straight. "I am sorry I got Mikey the dye, Raph."

Raph didn't turn but his eyes did meet hers through the reflection. After a moment he shrugged. "S'not your fault." He then continued, his tone turning wry. "Just don't buy him anything else that can be used for pranks. Or else I'll make sure he uses them on_ you_ instead."

"You wouldn't!" She gasped in mock horror.

A lopsided grin appeared and he stood, turning around. Arms folding across his plastron he leaned back in an attempt to look intimidating. A feat that wasn't really hard for the slightly stocky turtle, even without his mask. "You wanna bet?"

For a moment April wondered if he was actually being serious or not. The teenager was well aware of how crazy some of Michelangelo's pranks could get; she often supplied him with things he couldn't easily get his hands on. And while helping him was one thing, being on the receiving end was something else entirely.

"Okay. Okay. I won't buy him anything else!" She answered, hands raised in surrender. "No promises though."

As Raph raised an eye ridge, she hastily continued.

"He can get pretty persistent... A girl can only last so long against those puppy dog eyes."

Snorting back a chuckle, the turtle straightened. "You have a point." He smiled again, a warm smile this time, as he thought about his brother. "Mikey perfected that technique to a T..."

With a shake of his head he looked back at April. "As long as you try... that is good enough for me I suppose."

"Deal."

A loud beep sounded, signaling the end of the cycle and April hopped from her seat. Raphael stepped out of the way as she opened the washer although he stayed close, hovering just over her shoulder.

"Did it work?"

Eyes rolling playfully at the underlying worry in Raph's voice, April pulled out the fabric. She noted with satisfaction that the dye had washed out completely, leaving them their normal red hue.

"There is still some glitter but..." Holding up the masks, she grinned.

"Thank god!"

"Do you want me to dry them...?"

Raphael shook his head no as he accepted the strips of cloth. "Nah. I'll let them air dry." He quickly folded and tucked the extras into a pocket on his belt then tied the remaining back over his eyes. It was damp but not soaked so he could deal. He was just happy to be wearing it again.

Raph wouldn't have admitted it openly but being both mask-less and topside, even if it was just him and April, had made him more than a bit edgy.

"Are you sure...?"

"_Very sure_."

He looked back at April who stood with her hands on her hips. Finally she shrugged, "Whatever you say." She smiled but Raph didn't miss how tired she looked, "Does this mean I can go back to bed now?"

The question had been teasing but that didn't stop a pang of guilt from hitting him and he glanced towards the wall clock. It was almost 2:30am. Shell, he had been here for an hour and a half.

"Yeah." He said absently, silently cursing himself. "Yeah you can. Sorry April... I didn't mean to keep you up with this. I just..."

She was shaking her head even before he finished, "I totally get it Raph. It isn't like you can come here during the daytime, so no need to explain. It was partly my fault anyways."

Raph merely nodded; Apologizing still wasn't his strongest suit.

A hand rested on his shoulder and he raised his gaze from where it had fallen to the floor.

"Think of it this way. Now we are even!"

Green eyes blinked dubiously as he stared at her. She had helped Mikey pull a prank, albeit in a round about way, and in return he woke her up at an odd hour to fix it. It didn't seem fair but rather than mention it he simply conceded with a laugh, "Yeah. I guess you're right."

"Of course I am. Just promise me no more late night visits. Unless it is an emergency or absolutely important."

"Deal. No Promises though." Raphael quipped before frowning, "Wait. My masks being dyed pink isn't considered an emergency?"

April giggled, "Maybe in the fashion world..."

The giggles were soon interrupted by a big yawn and Raph wasted no more time, quickly directing her back towards the stairs. The teenager complied with little resistance as he marched her back to her bedroom and into bed.

Once she was settled he then turned towards the window, pushing it open and climbed out. He paused, looking back at the figure curled up under the blankets.

"Thanks April."

He didn't think he had said it loud enough for her to hear but as he shut the window behind him there was a muffled, "You're welcome."


End file.
